Our Parents Lives, Their Pasts
by TheCupIsMightierThanTheSword
Summary: After an argument with his parents, Boruto can't help but rage about how his generation has it way harder than the previous. Too bad that ended up sending him and his friends back to the past. "Welcome to the past, young ones. Here you'll see everything your parents had to deal with before you were born, and hopefully you'll see in the end who really had it harder." [Discontinued]
1. I You Don't Understand

Our Parents Lives, Their Pasts

 **A/n:**

So I know I should actually be working on getting Road to Temari Nara uploaded, but this was an idea I couldn't pass up. This whole fic idea started off a long tumblr post I made actually and after the huge blast of encouragement, I couldn't help but actually decide to write this. I always love the ideas for fics that involve the next gen going back in time to see what their parents were like as kids and teens, etc. So! I decided to write my own, with no idea on how it'll end or wrap up. But in the end, I just hope that people enjoy this. And just some warnings, there will be spoilers for those who haven't read Gaiden.

And like I said, the idea for this fic came from me ranting and listing out things that the next gen. kids could see if they ever went back to the past, so if you have any great ideas that I might've left out: let me know. So, I'll let you guys get to reading this now (and I'll try and get the 1st chapter to Road to Temari Nara uploaded soon.)

Enjoy the chapter!

 **Disclaimer: Me? Own Naruto? In my dreams... In my sad delusional little dreams... I just typed all this up in Google Docs.**

 _ **Chapter I**_ You Don't Understand

Boruto Uzumaki grinned widely as he once again crossed the digital finish line.

"Ah! No fair!"

"Read 'em and weep, Himawari!" The blonde exclaimed happily. "I played as Bowser, I played to win."

Aforementioned girl pouted deeply. "Nii-chan you always win this game."

Boruto only shrugged, "Wanna play again?"

"Okay…"

Today was a good day in Konoha.

In fact, Boruto took a deep breath with a happy expression on his face as he picked a new character, it was a very good day.

He didn't have a mission that day, his mother, Hinata Uzumaki, had made french toast this morning, and he got to hang out by playing video games with Himawari. It was a spectacular way to start off a new day in his opinion. Mario Kart was a great game too, with the exception of Rainbow Road -which was painstakingly Himawari's favourite road to play on.

But that didn't matter much, he decided as he finally settled on playing as Luigi. He could go a little easier on his sister this time who was still trying to find the racer she wanted to be.

"Wanna shoot for the Flower Cup this time?"

Himawari bit her lip in thought before nodding. It sounded alright to her.

"You two have been playing on that for a while now." Hinata said with a 'those-two-kids' smile on her face. She sat on the couch behind them, knitting carefully. Her lilac-coloured eyes had its usual gentleness in them as she watched her children bond.

"Oh, we'll take a break after this cup." Boruto whined. Admittedly enough, Boruto was a bit of a Mama's Boy. Not that he could help it. His mother was great. The sweetest. So he couldn't help but give in a little to her implied request.

Hinata chuckled lightly, "Alright."

The Uzumaki household was always a bright one when it was like this.

It smelled nice, probably due to the many flowers and plants that grew there, it was big, perfect for the games of hide-and-seek from when he and Himawari were younger, and his mother always made the best snacks. Especially on days that were colder than normal when she would make large cinnamon rolls and give them warm milk with cookie crumbs in them. But today was a warm day, not that it mattered.

The snacks on warm days were great as well. Who didn't enjoy brownies or cookies in the shapes of kunai, shuriken, and narutomaki?

It was great.

Himawari finally clicked on the option to be Daisy. "Let's play, Nii-chan!"

Boruto grinned widely, "Prepare to eat my dust!" He yelled, thumbs itching to start button mashing. He couldn't make it obvious that he was going to go easier on her after all. (Even if he would make sure he took plenty of wins though.)

 _Click._

The three Uzumaki all perked up at the familiar sound of clicking and jingling coming from behind them.

"Hey, I'm back!" Came a booming voice and Himawari was already on her feet dashing towards the front door.

"Tou-chan!" The tiny blunette exclaimed as she was lifted into her father's arms and Boruto scowled at the sight. Not that he was mad at Himawari, he could never be mad at her. "Welcome back!"

Hinata was smiling herself as she set her needles and unfinished product on the coffee table, "Welcome back, Naruto-kun."

Naruto walked over to his wife in long, quick strides and gave his wife a small peck on the lips causing Boruto to gag but no one paid that any mind. "How's my favourite blue-haired queen doing?" The older blonde man asked with a wide grin.

Himawari pouted, "What about me?"

"Well, you're my favourite blue-haired princess!" Naruto said as he rubbed their cheeks together causing his daughter to squeal. In contrast to her brother, Himawari was more of a Daddy's Girl and she was very proud of it.

Hinata giggled at the interaction between the two, "We've all been doing fine," she gave Naruto's free hand a tight squeeze. "Did you have nice morning so far?"

Naruto made a face, "The amount of paperwork on my desk is slowly killing me. I had to bribe Shikamaru for a few moments of peace, sheesh! Expect Inojin, Shikadai, and Chouchou to come over Wednesday afternoon. Team 10 'reunion' is a go that night." He sighed, but perked up when he looked over at another head of blonde hair. "Hey there, son."

"Yeah, whatever." Boruto grumbled, looking back at the TV screen. "Himawari come on, let's play already!"

Naruto didn't catch the hint, or rather, he ignored it. "How long have you been playing on that thing anyway?" He chuckled. "I'm tellin' ya, these kids today and their electronics. They wouldn't last at all back in our day, eh Hinata? The only real TV I remember from back then was the one from the chunin exams!" He barked a strong bout of laughter.

 _Well it_ isn't _back in your day!_ Boruto growled mentally, just wanting the man to stop talking.

"Really?" Himawari asked, blue eyes wide with wonder. She couldn't imagine a time without the things she had now, even though she knew it happened.

"C'mon Hima~!" Boruto whined for the second time that day.

Hinata gave her son a look of gentle firmness, "How about the two of you finish playing the game later and take that break?" She 'asked'. "I'll make some snacks! Himawari do you want to help?"

Himawari nodded excitedly and Naruto set her back on the ground, "Then I know they'll taste good!" Then he directed his gaze over to his son, "How about we help them out, Boruto? I'm sure it'll be fun."

Boruto scoffed and slouched over onto his side, "No thanks."

"..." It was quiet for a moment before Naruto sighed once more and let it go. Boruto felt a small hint of guiltiness, but he kept his mouth shut. "Hey, Hinata, have room for one more?"

Hinata didn't say anything for a few moments but eventually smiled softly, her eyebrows knit with a tiny of barely noticeable sadness. "Of course. We're making a fruit salad. Quick and healthy."

Himawari's voice came next, "You can help me slice the apples." She said cheerily. "Nii-chan, why don't you help too?"

 _Ugh…_ There went his weakness. "Fine, I'll help!"

In frustration he turned off his game cube and the TV before he made his way to the kitchen. "What do I do?"

"How about you help Kaa-chan with the washing the strawberries?" Hinata asked gesturing to the bowl of berries in front of her.

"Sure." Boruto shrugged.

This brought back a few memories for the young man.

Cooking together had been an activity the Uzumaki family had done together a bunch of times back before Naruto had received his position as the village Hokage. They were especially fun times when small fights with cake batter was involved. Like in one of the pictures on the dresser by door.

The four of them were all smiling widely into the camera, chocolate smeared in their hair and on their faces. It was messy, the kitchen looking like a chocolate hurricane had flown through it, but they all looked irrefutably happy.

 _But now he's always gone…_ Boruto grit his teeth, and it wasn't from the cold water on his hands.

"Nii-chan?" Himawari's voice broke Boruto out of his train of thought.

Boruto shook his head and forced a smile, "It's nothin, I was just thinking about training."

"How has training been, Boruto?" Naruto asked and Boruto felt irritated all over again. "Konohamaru's been telling me you've been doing pretty good. You gotta be prepared for all those missions after all."

"It's been fine."

"Ne, Tou-chan Kaa-chan, what were your missions like?" Himawari asked, eyes opened wide.

Naruto chuckled, "You shoulda saw my first C-rank mission." He looked back with a nostalgic look. "It was supposed to be an escort D-rank and it way out of hand!"

The Uzumaki matriarch giggled as well, "My mission were a bit difficult here and there as well. But my sensei and teammates were always there to help me."

"Your Kaa-chan and I even had a couple missions together!" Naruto grinned. "The first one we had was actually pretty harsh. I got the runs, fell off a cliff, and kinda ruined the life for a baby beetle in terms of things it'll be smelling in the future."

Hinata laughed hard and had to cover her mouth. "I-it wasn't really your fault, Naruto-kun! You just got a little excited is all!" She gasped and Naruto blushed.

"It sounds way worse when you put it like that!" Naruto protested.

Himawari joined in her mother's laughter, "What did Tou-chan do?"

"He-"

"Hinata don't tell her! It'll ruin my little princess's image of me!"

The three of them erupted into another bout of laughter and Boruto only felt his blood boil at the scene.

"Was it really that bad?!"

"The worst!"

Boruto grit his teeth.

"Naruto-kun, you're over-exaggerating."

He grit them even harder.

"Oh yes it was."

Boruto slammed a hand on a countertop. "Why do you guys act like that?!" He yelled, silencing everyone in the room.

Hinata blinked in surprise at her son's outburst, "What… do you mean?"

Boruto felt surprised. "You guys always act like this!" He repeated. "That old guy is gone for hours and hours, and then the moment he comes back you act like nothing is even wrong! He isn't even here when we wake up in the morning and he acts like it doesn't affect anyone!"

"Now, Boruto that isn't true." Naruto remained composed. "We all know that it's harder on everyone when I'm busy, but it's for the sake of-"

"'For the sake of the village'!" The younger blonde said scatchingly, already knowing what was going to come out his father's lips. "Well what about the sake of Kaa-chan, Himawari, and me?! Shouldn't your own family come before the village?!"

Hinata tried to placate her son, "Boruto, you're father cares about us very much-"

"If he cares about us so much then why doesn't he tried to make more of an effort to be with us?!" Boruto snapped. "He's always going 'the village this' and 'the village that'! He's surrounded by people that isn't us and talking about how everyone is the village is his children! What about Himawari and me?!"

Himawari flinched at being brought into the fray and felt anxious. She had never seen Boruto like this. "I," she paused, feeling uncharacteristically shy. "I don't mind Tou-chan being gone… It's fine even if we don't get to spend a lot of time with him." She looked at the apple slice in her hand.

Naruto's eyes darted to Himawari and he laid a hand on her shoulder, "I'll always love you both, Boruto." He said, eyes firm. "It's going to be rough road, but that's only something you have to overcome. When I was your age I didn't understand it much either, but-"

Boruto cut his father off, "When you were my age you had everything you wanted!" He snapped. "You were surrounded by everyone! You don't know what's it like at all to feel like you don't even have a father!"

"Boruto!"

Surprisingly enough, the yell had came from Hinata and Boruto felt his throat dry at the look she was giving him. It was rare to see such an upset expression on her face, and he could feel Himawari tensing beside him as well.

"Don't ever talk to your father like that again." She said, her voice strained. Her lavender eyes held unknown anger. "Apologize. Now."

Boruto felt his throat close up.

That was a look he'd never seen on her face, and especially not directed at himself. All he was saying was the truth!

Why was she getting so upset? If anything she should be grateful that one of them finally had the guts to actually say it.

Boruto balled his hands together into fists, clenching them to the point small crescents embedded themselves in his palms. He released a loud 'tch' and with one last spiteful glare to the ground he turned around and slipped on his sandals and ran out the door.

"Nii-chan!" He could hear Himawari calling after him, but he didn't stop, even as he could hear the sound of her feet heading towards him.

Boruto kicked a pebble in a random direction, a scowl deeply set on his round face.

[;';]

Beside him Himawari looked over at him with a worried expression. They had just left home. Well, it was more of Boruto storming out the house after an argument with their parents and feeling concerned, Himawari followed after him. It had only been a little of a half hour since exiting their household and the older Uzumaki sibling was still heated.

Today _had_ started being a good day in Konoha.

Boruto had no mission and he had the chance to hang out with Himawari, whom he considered a very precious aspect in his life. Things were going terrific! Until their father stopped by from work.

Boruto grit his teeth harder as he remembered the entire situation unfold.

Naruto came over, got everyone's hopes up for a chance at him staying longer and Boruto blew a gasket.

"Nii-chan, are you okay?" Himawari asked softly, her cerulean blue eyes swimming with her own thoughts on the matter.

 _Does it look like I'm okay?!_ Boruto wanted to snap, but this was Himawari- the one person he couldn't snap off at even if he could. "Yeah." He grumbled, shoving his hands further into his pants pocket. He had no idea where they were even going. It didn't matter as long as it wasn't home. "I'm fine."

Himawari sighed, "Kaa-chan looked really upset."

"She just got mad cuz I pointed out something out she didn't have the guts to." Boruto felt a sick churn in his stomach before as he said that. It felt wrong saying something like that about his mom, but he wasn't going to take it back. Sure he was in the wrong in ruining a family moment, but someone had to say it.

He was telling the truth.

All around the house where there were pictures of a younger Naruto, he was shown to have a great childhood.

His group shot picture at his friend at his and Hinata's wedding. A picture showing Naruto's old squad together, despite showing the glares his dad was shooting his teammate Sasuke. A picture of his grandparents smiling at one another happily! And it wasn't like Naruto had said anything at all to negate what he was saying. So how could he have been wrong?

The blonde prodigy kicked another pebble in a random direction and that's when he heard a pained yelp.

"Hey Boruto watch where you're kickin' that crap around!"

Boruto looked to see a different pair of blue eyes glaring at him. They were the eyes of Inojin Yamanaka and beside him were the usual company of Shikadai Nara and Chouchou Akimichi. "Oh," Boruto said lamely. "Hey guys."

One of Inojin's eyes twitched, "Why you…" He didn't bother finishing his sentence.

"Where are you all off to?" Boruto asked, walking over to Shikadai. "More InoShikaChou training?"

Shikadai yawned and shook his head, "Nah," the green-eyed Nara replied. "We're just heading over to the hamburger joint. Lee [Metal Lee] and Sarada are s'pose to be there too."

Chouchou nodded, "Yuppers." It was well-known in their group of friends that she and the aforementioned Uchiha girl were best friends. "Hey there, Hima!" She threw an arm over the blunette's shoulders. It was also no secret that eventually Himawari would be thrown into the mix Chouchou gladly called the Diva's Squad.

Chouchou was sure that that would be happening in the near future.

Himawari smiled, "Hi, Chou-chan."

"So you two wanna come with?" The brown-skinned girl asked, golden eyes looking at them expectantly.

"Yeah," he said, relieved. "Sounds great to me. I'm grabbin' my usual!" Anything to get his mind off the earlier events of the day and the harsh look of anger he'd received from his mother.

Inojin gave a look that said 'I am done' but he followed after them anyway.

Hamburger Shop.

That was the name of the place they were heading to, and despite the how the simplistic was, it the place had great food. They were delicious and Boruto and his friends always took the same window seat. It was usually just the guys that met up together, but every once in again the girls came too when they didn't feel like getting their usual anmitsu fix.

"Oi! Guys!" Metal Lee waved rapidly from his spot in front of the restaurant. Beside him was Sarada Uchiha and she gave a small wave of her own.

Himawari waved next, "Sarada-neechan!" She ducked from Chouchou's hold on her and ran to the older girl, hugging her tightly.

Sarada hugged the girl tightly, "Hi, Himawari." She ruffled a hand through the flared hair, Himawari's ahoge going up and down as Sarada's hand passed over it. This was usual treatment she gave the youngest of the Uzumaki siblings. It just seemed universal between their group and their parents group that Himawari was just the little princess of their group of friends.

Lee pointed into the restaurant's insides, "The place isn't as full as usual."

Shikadai smirked a little, "Good." He said, walking past the green-cloud shinobi. "I only have to deal with your voices today."

"Oh shut it, deer boy." Boruto growled at his good friend. "Hey, where's Mutsuki at?" He looked over at Sarada. The two of them, plus the aforementioned boy, made a three-man cell.

The bespeculated girl shrugged, "I asked him if he wanted to meet up with us." She said to him. "But he's doing something else so he said maybe later." Sarada went ahead and scooted in the booth, Chouchou not too far behind her. The brunette was shooting Inojin a victorious look and teasing smirk.

Boruto wanted to snicker as well before his eyes latched on to the remaining boys without seats. "Himawari you go ahead." Like his precious baby sister was going to be sitting next to any of them. Inojin was sorta safe, but there was also Lee and Shikadai. Especially Shikadai.

But Himawari was oblivious to her brother's true intentions and scooched right next to Chouchou.

It didn't take long for everyone else to find a seat, and it took even shorter to get their meals. Probably a perk of being usual customers.

"So," Shikadai started off, his sharp gaze meeting Boruto head on. "What's up with you?"

The flarey-haired Boruto flinched, "Huh? Whattaya mean?" He tried to sound nonchalant in front of his friends.

"Don't insult me." Shikadai said, arms crossing. "I'm not an idiot who can't see when something's wrong with a friend. So don't insult my intelligence by acting like I can't see. So what's wrong?"

Boruto felt self-conscience as he felt all the eyes on himself and sighed. "It's not that big a deal." He said at last. "I just got into an argument with my parents."

" _Parent **s**_?" Chouchou emphasized, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, my parents!" Boruto crossed his arms. "Geez. My mom and I fight from time to time, it isn't that shocking." Sure, most of the arguments with Hinata had taken place during his terrible twos… But the blonde digressed, arguing over whether or not he was taking a bath counted as an argument. Sort of.

Chouchou continued on, "From a Mama's Boy like you," she said. "it is."

Chouchou could be great company, but she could so annoying sometimes. "Inojin's a way bigger Mama's Boy than me so shut up!"

Inojin choked on his saliva with a red face, "Don't bring me into this!" It wasn't his fault his mom could be so scary! And he wasn't a Mama's Boy either, not that anyone would actually listen to him.

"Anyway," Boruto said, directing the conversation back on track. "Like I was saying, I was had an argument with my parents. Tou-chan just pissed me off is all." He didn't need want to really elaborate on everything. "He stopped by and was acting like he understood everything me and Himawari and I are going through."

His sister fiddled with her cup. "Kaa-chan was really upset." She said with a soft voice.

"She'll calm down eventually." Boruto reassured his sister with a pat on the shoulder.

Lee blinked in surprise, "I can't really imagine, Hinata-oba getting mad." He tried to think back to any scenario in which the kind, blue-haired woman could have a look of anger on her. But all he could see was his mother, Tenten Lee, yelling at him and his father whenever they were screaming about the flames of youth.

Sarada looked shocked as well, "Lee's right, I can't really see it myself." The matriarch of the Uzumaki family was the sweetest out of all the mom's. Especially if you compared Hinata to Sarada's mother, who trained under the Fifth Hokage and had enough strength to turn a mountain into tiny stones with a simple flick of her finger. "It just seems virtually impossible to picture Auntie doing making an angry face.

"Well she did alright!" Boruto snapped before taking a sip of his pop [soda].

"The Hokage is a busy person, Boruto." Inojin said. "I'm sure he's trying his best."

Boruto snorted, "Oh what do you know. You guys always get to see your dad." He made a sweeping gesture at everyone at the table. "Except for Sarada. I mean, her dad's never here. So if anything she has it the worst."

"But I don't argue with my dad about it." Sarada gave him a pointed look. She had came to terms with her father being away often because of his mission, but now that he had a phone it was easier to stay in contact with him. He even stayed in Konoha for about a month after Sakura had destroyed the house by accident.

"Whatever." Boruto countered. "All I'm saying is, all our parents act like they all have seen everything wrong with the world. Like they've oh-so-much. But the biggest thing they've even been through was the War."

He and Himawari had heard some stories about the Fourth Shinobi World War and how bad it had been. But their parents spared them most of the gruesome details. Like the death of important friends and family. Uncle Neji, Hinata's cousin who had died protecting her and Naruto and Shikadai and Inojin's grandfathers, Shikaku and Inoichi. But that was just about the limit of their knowledge of the war. It had been more of a mutual group decision that their parents made to wait until they were older to sit the kids down and completely talk about the war and what events had lead up to it.

But now that he was a genin, Boruto felt impatient to hear the story and frankly didn't care anymore.

"So I guess what I'm saying is…" Boruto paused. "I just wish that maybe they could walk through our shoes and see what it's like for us."

"Nii-chan…" Boruto could his sister's gaze on him and didn't look.

Shikadai spoke up for the first time in a while, "I guess so." He admitted. "Maybe it'd get my Ma and granny off my back."

Sarada looked at her hands, mixed emotions on her face. Maybe Sasuke would want to stop by more often as well if he knew how she felt with him being gone for so long. But she shook her head, it was wishful thinking. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

 **"You children are so spoiled."**

Boruto and company all blinked. Did they all hear they all hear that, or was it just one of them tripping out?

 **"When one thing goes wrong, you act like its the end of the world and don't even know how to overcome it.** "

Boruto was about to say something, but his mouth fell closed as he felt a sudden wave of dizziness. _Wh-what the?_ Immediately Boruto looked over at Himawari who looked the way he felt and he grabbed her into his arms protectively. "What the heck is this?" He looked around. "Some kind of genjutsu?"

 **"And to hear you all complain about your parents not understanding you because they had it so much easier during their generation's time to shine?"** The voice chuckled humourlessly. **"You don't know anything about it."**

Boruto couldn't say anything he had in his mind as he looked over at his friend's who also looked sick from the strange aura surrounding them.

 **"So,"** the voice said with a 'whlep' in his voice. **"It seems you all need a bit of a wake up call. Especially you, one with blonde whiskers."** It felt like Boruto was being stared down hard by someone. **"So come with me, young ones, and we're all going to take a little trip together."**

 _What?_

"Who, who are you?" Boruto heard one of them say, but he couldn't tell who.

The voice paused before he said anything. **"For now, I guess you can all call me Tobi. An old acquaintance of your parents."**

A bright blinding light flashed in Boruto's eyes and he suddenly felt the seat and ground beneath him disappear. "Nii-chan!" He heard Himawari shout and Boruto held onto her even tighter.

"I'm right here! Don't worry!"

 _Ugh!_

Boruto groaned as he felt a hard substance hitting his back.

 **"Welcome to the past, young ones."** The ominous voice said. **"Here you'll see everything your parents had to deal with before you were born, and hopefully you'll see in the end who really had it harder."**

And with that, Boruto felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **A/n:** And chapter 1 is complete!

That came out way longer than I thought it was since I had to figure out how to put them back to the past version of Konoha. In total, I had 12 pages of google doc pages. So the formatting and sizes of the paragraphs and it was easier to look out for typos as well. I also had to go back and redo all the bolding and itallics for certain things, so I might I've skipped over one. So if I did, please forgive me. Because I know how big grammatical errors are in the fanfiction community. It's the greatest sin in it...

But I worked real hard to write this and come up with a title. So I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter and I hope you all decide to stick with this story till the ending. And if anyone was wondering about the post I made on tumblr about the idea of this fic: here's a link for you here and I'll be placing it on my profile. post/124502571546/someone-should-write-a-fic-where-the-next-gen-kids

 _ **So Read, Review, and I Adore You All Too!**_


	2. II Our Parents' Konoha

Our Parents Lives, Their Pasts

 **A/n:**

Okay, so it's really, REALLY, been a while since I last updated this fic. Like Julyish? I have no other excuse than procrastination, writer's block, and school work. But, I've kinda got my crap together the last few days and managed to write out chapter two and fling it too you guys! Especially since I'm on break for this entire week! So, I hope you guys enjoy what I'm gonna be doing with this story and enjoy the chapter. I've been brainstorming a lot, so hopefully, this won't stagnate again. Plus, I rewatched the entirety of the Chunin Exams arc so hopefully I'll be able to write this chapter out with justice as well as answer a few questions.

I also, like last time, wrote this over in google drive then transferred it over. So if you see a bunch of typos, just let me know in the reviews that you guys will hopefully leave. Oh! And don't be afraid to possibly leave suggestions to or things like that. You might mention something I didn't think of and that really helps me as a budding writer, y'know?

Enjoy the chapter!

 **Disclaimer: Me? Own Naruto? In my dreams... In my sad delusional little dreams... I just typed all this up in Google Docs.**

 _ **Chapter II**_ Our Parents' Konoha

Boruto awoke abruptly to images being pushed into his head.

The blackout he had earlier felt as if it were only a few seconds.

But that was nothing being compared to what he was seeing in his mind, everything feeling like it was some kind of lie. A trip out. Like a dream.

 _"SAAAAASUUUKKKEEEEE~~~~"~_ His dad, covered in orange chakra, crying.

 _"What are you doing here Hinata?! Run!~_ His mother's body flying through the air like a limp ragdoll before deafening crashing back into the ground.

"He-hey…"

 _"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and one day I'm gonna be Hokage and then everybody'll have to respect me!"~_ His dad, a genin.

 _"Because I love you, Naruto-kun."~_ His mother, smiling softly as she stared an enemy dead in the face with his father incapacitated.

 _"Because… you called me a genius…"~_ His uncle, dying on his father's shoulder.

"Hey…!"

 _"I'm your friend."_

 **"STOP IT!"**

The images stopped just like that, Boruto grasping his head, hyperventilating. What the hell was that? He coughed, his throat feeling dry. It was a joke. A sick, sick joke. That was when he remembered. "Hima!" Boruto looked around urgently until he saw her, trembling beside himself.

She didn't look any better than how he felt.

The same went for his friends, even Shikadai looking mildly disturbed.

"Onii-chan…" Himawari's blue eyes were wide with horror as she turned to look at him. "Kaa-chan and Tou-chan are-"

A deep voice cut her off.

 **"To think that those snippets I allowed you to see were only just a fraction of the things your parents all had to go through."** It was a man, Boruto presumed, and he was sitting nonchalantly cross-leggedly, chin resting on his hand. An orange mask with one eye hole was the closest thing they had to seeing his face. **"I'm pretty sure you all saw different things though, since you aren't all related. Except for the Uzumaki runts actually."** The man looked in Boruto and Himawari's direction and mustering up all the will power he had, the elder of the Uzumaki siblings stepped protectively in front of his baby sister.

"Who are you?!" Boruto was surprised to see that it was Mirai. Wasn't she on a mission?! He gasped aloud when he saw Mitsuki by the chunin's side. "What kind of genjutsu is this and why can't we release it?! Tell me now!" The Sarutobi woman had a kunai in her hand.

 **"Oh I assure you this isn't a genjutsu."** The man said, he sounded amused. **"And I believe I told you my name before I brought you all here. But,"** he paused. **"I guess I can repeat myself. You can call me Tobi, and this is my domain."**

Mirai, wearily keeping her eyes on 'Tobi', gestured to Sarada. "Sarada, if you can, use your Sharingan and tell me if this is a kind of genjutsu or not."

"Y-yes!" Sarada activated her Sharingan as quickly as she could, and her eyebrows knitted into a look of disbelief. "He's right. We ~aren't~ in a genjutsu!"

"That's impossible!" Chouchou said finally. Despite the situation, it was nice to see that Chouchou could still talk in her typical saucy manner. "There's no way that this can't be a genjutsu! Look at this place!"

"Yeah…" Boruto's own eyes darted around to look at their new surroundings. There was nothing. It was blank. All the place was was some strange space with a bluish tint to it, like they were in the sky but on solid ground at the same time. "But don't worry, Hima." Boruto turned to give Himawari a forced smile of reassurance. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here soon. Don't worry okay?"

Himawari nodded, her voice shaky. "Okay."

 **"Ahem."**

Everyone's heads turned to Tobi.

"Just stay behind me everyone." Mirai said, her defensive position never lowering the entire time. "I'll get us out of here."

 **"You won't be able to leave until I feel as if you guys can leave."** Tobi said matter-of-factly. **"So far, you aren't doing that well. Why don't you all just relax and we can hurry this along to why you're all here."**

Boruto could hear somebody grumbling a "How does he expect us to relax in a place like this?", but Mirai herself ignored it. "... What is it then?"

Tobi straightened his back from his hunch, **"I'm bringing you all to the past."**

It was quiet for a moment.

"What?" It was Inojin. "The past? How could you do that?!"

 **"A new ability I've acquired since my time here."** Tobi answered, a strange tone in voice. **"I never actually saw much use for it since then, until you all presented me with a reason. Particularly,"** Tobi's mask twirled back to Boruto once more. **"you, Uzumaki boy. You're father's Hokage now, right. Tell him I said congratulations."**

Boruto felt a dark pang in his stomach. "How do you know our dad?" Neither of his parents, or his surrogate aunts and uncles, ever told him of a guy name Tobi being in their lives.

 **"I wouldn't say we're friends, your father and I."** Tobi said darkly. **"But we do know each other, me better knowing more about him now that I'm here. Those snippets from earlier, the past. The memories of the past are things I now have the ability to access and share with a select few. And, that select few is all of you."**

Shikadai spoke out loud for the for the first time, "But why?!" The outburst made a few faces contort into expressions of surprise. "I can't think of anything to make sense of what you're saying right now!"

Tobi emitted a strange aura, **"Well, Shikadai Nara, son of Shikamaru and Temari Nara, I'm not surprised you'd make that comment."** Amusement surged through Tobi's voice again. **"But if it's one thing you don't have at the moment, it's the experience your father has. But basically, you are all spoiled."**

Boruto felt a surge of anger. "What do you know about it, huh?!" He blew up.

 **"A lot more than you."** Tobi replied wryly. **"I actually was a lot like you when I was your age after I thought Kakashi..."** He broke off his sentence. **"Now I know how stupid I really am now that I'm here. Which is why, you're all here- for the same lesson."**

"Wait, how is it you know Kakashi-san?" Lee [Metal Lee] asked.

 **"A question for another time."** Tobi finally stood up, causing the younger generation to tense up. **"But when I see a bunch of snot-nosed brats going on about how easy their parents had it before them when the brats themselves have no idea what suffering truly is, I can't help but get agitated. You take for granted the world the previous generation worked hard to make for you, even died to make for you."** Tobi touched his chin in a mocking manner. **"Your father is too busy to spend proper time with his family, how hurtful. You tell him how he's had everything on a silver platter since childhood. The overstatement of the century."**

Guilt once again rang through Boruto.

 **"But then even more of you began to contribute to his complaints though it may have been in different ways from the Uzumaki boy's. And I couldn't take it much longer. I guess I never really learned the essence of patience in the long run, but I could no longer wait for the day your parents were going to to explain to you all the complications of their pasts and to be honest, I doubt some of you would actually take those explanations to heart. Which is why I chose this alternative."** Tobi spread his arms out grandly. **"To _show_ , not tell."**

 **"To show you most of everything and why some things ended up the way they did."**

Boruto looked at his feet. "So that's what those things from earlier were then?" He glared back at the masked man who had brought them to this strange place. "The past?"

 **"Yes, just small fragments here and there."** The orange mask wearing man said. **"Each of you didn't actually see the same thing, like I said earlier. It was more specific towards those you were related to. Like Asuma Sarutobi."**

Mirai's face scrunched up, "How do you know _~my~_ dad?"

 **"We were classmates."** Tobi never delved deeper into that. **"Now. I guess I should start elaborating a bit more on this 'trip' before we all leave. Not everything you witness is just from the aspect of the audience. You will be able to interact with your parents younger selves from occasion to occasion. But only as I see fit for the situation at hand."**

Mitsuki held up a hand to signify he was about to interrupt. "Excuse me but, how is it we can interact with the past selves of our parents if that itself can change our very futures?"

A chuckle slipped from Tobi's throat. **"Glad you asked, young one."]** He took a few paces forward, crossing his arms. **"While I say I'm taking you back to the past, it's better to say I'm using that sentence loosely. Yes we are seeing the past of your parents, however it's kind of like they are sealed memories. Things that won't be changed so easily, not unless time travel is invented, anyways. After all, it would be most troublesome if you were to do something that would change the future."** _Such as all of you not being born_ , but that was a comment that hung silently in the air.

"So, tangible holograms, in other words?" Mitsuki countered.

 **"Precisely."**

Mirai stepped forward herself, "Wait a minute, we never said we'd do this."

 **"Well you can keep refusing, but I have a goal to accomplish at the moment. And trust me when I say I have _an eternity_ to wait for you all to change your minds."** There was an eerie way Tobi said that statement, and it sent a shudder down Boruto's back. He gave Himawari's hand a comfortable squeeze and felt a little relieved when he felt her squeeze it back. **"And don't bother trying to kill me thinking it'll send you back home. Put even more trust in me when I say it will be impossible for you to kill me, Mirai Sarutobi."**

It felt as if the already thick tension in the room thickened even more, if possible.

But Mirai slowly, reluctantly, lowered her kunai. "..." Her brown eyes swept over the genin and one academy student behind her, brow wrinkling. "Very well. But don't you dare do anything funny or suspicious."

 **"Oh of course not."**

There was a sudden bright flash of light and Boruto, as well as some of the others, all let out a yelp from the brightness.

"Geez!" Boruto grounded out, shading his eyes with one of his hands. "Does this Tobi guy not believe in giving a warning before blinding everybody, gods!"

"I'm scared, Onii-chan!" Himawari yelled back.

Boruto tried to give his sister a look of determination, but it was hard when he could barely see her face. "Don't worry, Hima." He said again. "Your big brother has got your back!"

* * *

 _"He's right." A young Sakura said with a smirk, jade green eyes gleaming. "This is clearly still the second floor." She stood tall and proud._

 _"Hey you, what's your name?" A boy, a Hyuga, glaring daggers at her father._

 _"The one I wish to fight is Uchiha!" Rock Lee, black eyes flaming with determination._

 _Her Ino-oba taking over her mother's body during the written portion of the exam to cheat off her answers._

 _Orochimaru, creepier and in disguise, biting her father's neck, leaving a mark with tomoe burning into his skin._

 _The oto-nin, taunting her mother. Rock Lee intervening before ultimately being defeated himself._

 _Her mother's pink hair flying into the distance, being punched repeatedly in the face. The InoShikaChou of the previous generation coming to her rescue. Her father's rage from the curse mark._

 _A mysterious shinobi preventing the Seventh and her mother from opening up the earth scroll in their possession and guiding them to the Tower._

 _Iruka-sensei popping up from the scrolls._

 **[~;';~]**

Sarada Uchiha grabbed her head in a pained motion, fingers gripping tightly at her black bangs.

The rush of memories she received with every new jump in time was something she'd never get used to. Her eyes still needed to adjust to the new amount of brightness in the room as stood perfectly still trying to avoid tripping over her feet. She could hear chattering from unfamiliar voices.

After a few blinks, Sarada finally looked around the room.

Now they were in some kind of indoor stadium.

She looked to her right where Chouchou was standing beside her. "Where are we?" She whispered to her best friend. She only got a shrug in return.

"Why don't you just ask Tobi the mask man?" Chouchou grumbled, gold eyes looking sharply at the tall man in front. Sarada felt as if that would be pointless. "And I don't even think it's a matter of where we are, but ~when~ we are."

Sarada then looked over to Shikadai, "Shi-" her question was interrupted.

"Oh, there you are." A familiar, but much younger voice came from behind them. "Sorry about that, it took me a while to explain some things to some former students of mine that managed to pass the second trial of the Exams." There was a gentle smile on the man's tanned face, a large scar horizontal across the bridge of his nose. He wore a Konoha headband and flak jacket, his arms resting pleasantly on his hips.

Sarada's eyes widened. _Iruka-san?_ She knew the man from many a thing from reunions to pictures that were in her house.

Iruka Umino, a retired teacher at the Ninja Academy when her parents were her age, who specifically taught her and her friend's parent's generation of shinobi.

"Oh it's no problem at all, you haven't missed anything at all." Tobi bowed politely at the man. "Everyone's just lining up right now. These," Tobi gestured to the younger ninja behind him. "are the prospective ninjas of my village."

Sarada didn't say anything, but wearily nodded. What was Tobi going on about now?

"Ah, yes." Iruka gave them a polite smile. "I was pretty surprised when I heard of the Land of Silk's plan to start making shinobi of their own. But I suppose it makes sense."

 _Oh._

It all clicked.

This was all some kind of cover up story for them all being here. Sarada shared a look of realization with Chouchou.

"Well, then," Iruka gestured to the first floor of the stadium. "I might as well start explaining this portion of the exams, however, it's actually going to be explained by this trial's proctor. So hopefully, he'll be able to answer any questions you have."

Sarada leaned over the rail and felt her eyes widened for what felt like the umpteenth time of the day when she spotted a familiar head of pink hair. _Mama!_

Lo and behold, it was Sakura Uchiha- no Haruno-, in the flesh, age 12.

In front of her was Sarada's father, Sasuke Uchiha, and the future Seventh Hokage and two of her childhood friend's' father, Naruto Uzumaki. In fact, all of their parents and relatives were standing there in their individual squadrons. And team 7, her parent's squadron, looked like they were ready to drop on their feet.

Sarada's grip on the railing tensed and she glared over at the trio of oto-nin, one of which, the one with the sound holes in the palm of his hands, had both of his arms in a sling. She felt a guilty feeling of satisfaction at that.

She looked over at Boruto and Himawari, both of them looking disgruntled in their own right before directing her eyes back at the younger versions of the previous generation.

Immediately, her eyes drifted over the forms of her surrogate aunts that whose own teams were beside her family's. Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Uzumaki, Hyuga at this point in time. Ino was smiling over in… Sasuke's direction? Sarada's eyes scrunched up at that. Where was Sai?

Then she remembered that her mother told her that Sai hadn't been present during the time of the Chunin Exams and that her Ino-oba had a crush on Sasuke, the rookie to beat during that time period. Weird. Maybe not back then, but definitely now.

She could see the look of discomfort on Inojin's face at seeing his mom give a loving look to another man aside from himself or his own father. There was also Chouchou's father, Chouji Akimichi and Shikadai's father, Shikamaru Nara. The resemblance between the the two Nara's was uncanny if you didn't count Shikadai's eyes. Her Kiba-oji hadn't changed that much either aside from the fact that Akamaru was way smaller than the size he was currently, much more youthful, and it was much stranger seeing Shino-sensei without his visor and letting his hair all loose and spiky.

She could also spot her Lee [Rock Lee]-oji and Tenten-oba, in front of them being Neji Hyuga, she remembered him now as Hinata's close cousin. Hard to believe from the memories she had seen earlier.

Further down, she was able to spot that Kabuto guy and her eyes narrowed. Her mother had given mixed reviews on that man and his role in history. Sarada hadn't been told much though however.

And beside Kabuto's team was the only passing team from Suna. The team that held the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, and his elder siblings- world renowned puppet master, Kankurou, and Temari Nara, Shikadai's mother.

"It's so weird." Chouchou grumbled. "Seeing our parents like this."

Sarada nodded. "I know."

Words wouldn't be able to explain the awkwardness with as much justice it deserved.

They were in their parents' time now.

When the Third Hokage was still alive, Sarada remembered her mother mentioning that in one of the many stories Sarada begged her to tell her when she was still in the Academy and even more recent with the Chunin Exams approaching back in their own time.

 _"Mama, what was it like the first time you took the Chunin Exams?" Sarada asked one day during lunch._

 _An older Sakura, Sakura **Uchiha** , raised a pink eyebrow as she looked up from the stack of papers in front of her. "I haven't told you that story?" The Uchiha matriarch asked in disbelief._

 _Sarada shook her head, "Not that one." Most stories she heard were all over the place, usually consisting the time Sakura had spent wasting her time over her looks like a little fool when she was an Academy student and the first portion of her years as a genin and the hellish training her master Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, put her through as well as stories of Sakura and her fellow kunoichi spending time together._

 _Not much had been mentioned about the Chunin Exams except for the fact that she failed the first time and had a revolutionary fight with her Ino-oba._

 _"Well," Sakura set down her pen. "it was pretty hellish." There was a small, bittersweet smile on her lips. "And I'm glad you won't have to deal with the complications we had the first time. But, I'll tell you what I remember. For one thing, the Third was still alive then…"_

Sarada looked at the old man, dressed in the traditional Hokage garb and hat. His goatee was gray and he had wrinkles with some liver spots dotting his face here and there. A large pipe hung from lips, his old eyes sweeping across the amount of remaining contestants.

There were some others faces she could recognize as well. Like Anko Mitarashi. A significantly skinnier Anko Mitarashi.

Sarada could hear Boruto whistling faintly. "Wow, Anko-sensei used to be a babe." He whispered. "Ow!" He got flicked on the ear by Chouchou.

"A woman is always a babe regardless of size you uncultured swine." The brunette lectured, hmphing as she looked back at the people on the first floor. Sarada stifled a chuckle.

There was Kakashi Hatake, her mother's former sensei and Sixth Hokage. His mask was still present. And it still irked her. Just as much as seeing it every time she happened to gaze upon the Hokage Monument.

She spotted Might Gai, standing tall and with a smile on his face, and Sarada felt pride swarm her as she got to see him standing as a proud ninja. No longer in his wheelchair and in the local retirement home in Konoha.

Kurenai-oba was an easy stand out in her white and red outfit, looking beautiful as always. There was also a sand-nin sensei and a oto-nin sensei.

But Sarada's eyes swept back over to man on Kakashi's left and felt her breath hitch at the familiarity of his face. Sarada looked up at Mirai, who hadn't said anything this entire time, her reddish-brown eyes locked on the man.

His hair was black and spiky, sweeping over to the side. He was tall with olive skin, brown eyes, and a matching black beard. His lips, which held a cigarette, were tilted upwards in an amused smirk as he looked at the year's rookies.

Sarada knew that man even if she hadn't met him personally.

He was Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai-oba's husband and Mirai's deceased father.

Sarada looked back at her own father with a dark pit in her stomach. Mirai was the only person in their generation, and close friends and role models, that had grown up without ever knowing her father, spending a lot of time with the Nara family as a result whenever her mother was busy.

Sarada suddenly felt a new appreciation for the improved relationship between her and her own parents.

"Mi-" she was cut off when an elderly voice rang out across the room.

"Alright everyone." It was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Let us begin discussing the third trial of the Chunin Exams."

Sarada's breath hitched.

* * *

 **A/n:** And chapter 2 is complete!

God, there was a lot of Obito dialogue to write out! Sure he may have changed a lot personality-wise from when he was a kid, but Obito still can manage to out-talk-no-jutsu Naruto! (YES THAT WAS A SAWYER7MAGE REFERENCE.) But it was fun starting off the story this way even though it was hard to write in everyone's dialogue without it seeming _too_ forced, at best.

So now we've got the story going and it's starting off with the Chunin exam fights! Time to see their young parents kick butt or get their own butts kicked trying! I can't wait to write out some of the scenes coming up as well since it'll be fun to see the next gen cheering on their genin parents. But I don't wanna delve too much into what I have planned! I gotta keep you guys comin' for more after all! So hopefully, you guys will stick around with me and this next gen story til the end and will cheer and critique me as it continues!

 _ **So Read, Review, and I Adore You All Too!**_


End file.
